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Raiders Sign Ex-Raiders RB to Replace Veteran
The Las Vegas Raiders decided to sign another veteran running back after Dare Ogunbowale got poached by the Houston Texans. The post Raiders Sign Ex-Raiders RB to Replace Veteran appeared first on HEAVY.
Business management expert urges farmers to focus on liquidity and cost control heading into 2027
A production business management expert says preserving liquidity and managing working capital will be critical as producers face another year of tight margins. Barry Ward with Ohio State University Extension says stronger corn and soybean prices have improved the profit picture for 2026, but… “We’ve got elevated cost structures that we’re not going to be […]
Bruno Kramm, German Goth Musician Who Moonlighted in Politics, Dies at 58
When he wasn’t playing with the groundbreaking dark-wave band Das Ich, he was a prominent figure in his country’s fight for online free speech and digital privacy rights.
Vincent D'Onofrio Shuts Down God Of War Laufey Gooner Complaints: 'Buddy Got Bodied By Kingpin'
The Daredevil costar has no time for unhinged gamer conspiracies
The AI Tamagotchis are coming
Personal AI hardware has mostly crashed and burned. OpenAI and Meta are counting on two selling points: it’s useful, and it’s cute.
Shelby County Health Department hosts free drive-thru pet vaccination clinic Oct. 17
Pet owners in Shelby County can get their dogs and cats vaccinated and microchipped at no cost during an upcoming drive-thru clinic on October 17.
Campus Scout | Your ‘business professor’ is actually AI slop
Zǎoshang hǎo, it’s your friendly Campus Scout here! Sorry about the Mandarin, folks. Scout’s artificial intelligence assistant, his new, improved and too-dangerous-to-be-publicly-released Brain-Blaster 2.0 must’ve had some Mandarin in its training data. Scout is not sure how it got there, but he knows Brain-Blaster 2.0 has super intelligence, so there must be a reason it...
PS5 jailbreaks just got a lot more useful
New exploit works on all but the most recently updated consoles.
Comic Fans Flock to Ninth Annual IV Entertainment Convention
Heroes and villains came to life at the ninth annual Imperial Valley Entertainment Convention, as attendees got the chance to meet artists and voice actors and have fun dressing up like their favorite fictional characters.
The Sonos Ace Ultra are the headphones Sonos should have made the first time
This time Sonos got it right.
Selling AI insurance was hard enough. Then they got into the cafe business
Corgi, valued at more than $5 billion, was forced to rein in its real estate expansion plans this month after a series of mishaps including a citation for rodents and departure of key dealmakers.
Patterson still excited by two new team bosses
Nathan Patterson is not letting Tuesday's "tough one to take" against Switzerland dampen his enthusiasm for working under two new head coaches, at Torino and with Scotland. The 24-year-old right-back was unused in Saturday's goalless draw in Slovenia but was handed a starting place by new boss Sebastien Pocognoli for the 3-0 Nations League defeat at Hampden. "We knew it was going to be a tough task as soon as we went to 10 [men], but we still showed signs of what we're trying to show and the ideas that we've got," Patterson said.
9 celebrity couples who called off their weddings
From Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck to Lady Gaga and Taylor Kinney, these couples got engaged and called it quits faster than you can say “I do.”
Scientists Found a Lifeform That Endures Hell—and It May Not Be Alone
There’s never been a eukaryotic organism that got out of these temperatures alive—until now.
A wild playoff day in 2 sports. Plus: NHL’s No. 1 pick debuts
Good morning! A lot happened yesterday. Inside: ⚾ Postseason = on 🏀 Top seed = out 🏒 Puck = dropped The Postseason: Six stats from a massive day October started on Sept. 29 this year. All four of MLB’s best-of-three Wild Card Series got underway yesterday. Here’s a key number from each of them: 71.5 percent: The Phillies’ win probability in Game 1 against the Braves when Austin Riley, the Atlanta third baseman who had the worst season of his career, came to the plate against lights-out reliever
With the Sox and Cubs both in the playoffs, sports bars are busier than ever: ‘It’s great for everyone’
Both teams in the playoffs means business is up at drinking spots around the city.
When “DEI” research is cut, what happens to community health?
“I’m just going to run to the grocery store!” How many times have we said this without thinking about it? For most of us, it's usually an easy walk or a short drive to get the cheese we forgot. In reality, though, 13% of the U.S. population (about 39 million people) live in “food deserts,” which means living more than a mile from a grocery store in urban areas and more than 10 miles in rural areas. This was the case for people in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, where a quick run to buy food wasn’t an option. In the 1930s, federal maps marked the Hill as "hazardous" for lending, a practice known as redlining that steered investment away from Black neighborhoods. Decades of disinvestment followed, and residents went about 30 years without a nearby grocery store. This made it hard to keep healthy eating habits and contributed to chronic disease. When a grocery store finally opened in the area in 2013, researchers saw the opportunity and launched the PHRESH study, which initially compared the health of participants from the Hill district to those in the Homewood district. Over time, the study expanded to other factors such as brain health and Alzheimer's risk. Residents like Roderick Blair overcame initial hesitation to share their health data, trusting it would benefit their neighborhood. Then, in August 2026, the NIH abruptly canceled the study’s grant, citing that it was “subjective” and fell outside their scientific scope—an effect of the administration’s interpretation of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Research like PHRESH can help determine what changes in a neighborhood actually improve health, so cutting it has left that question unanswered. Other canceled studies have examined health issues like maternal health, preterm birth rates, or sickle cell disease. Courts have reversed some of these grant cancellations, but not all of them. If we really want America to be healthier, research into why some communities get sicker than others is absolutely critical. The law that created the federal minority health research institute passed with bipartisan support in 2000. But these days, as evidenced by grant cancellations, the political shift in attitudes toward DEI means we often lose access to the health information we need to help all communities thrive. DEI vs. health equity vs. equality and the overlap (or lack thereof) The letters “DEI” evoke very different reactions depending on who you are in the U.S. DEI programs can address gender, disability, age, and other factors, but the fiercest debate centers on race. For some people, hearing DEI brings to mind policies that may have cost them a job or a college seat because they are white. Others see DEI as a matter of justice: a way to expand representation and opportunity for groups that have been historically marginalized. Both perspectives are rooted in lived experience, and both center on the same question: whether hiring and admissions practices are fair. Hiring and admission practices, though related, are not the same as health equity. Health equity is “the attainment of the highest level of health for all people.” It’s the recognition that some groups of people consistently experience worse health outcomes than others. For instance, black mothers die from pregnancy-related complications at three times the rate of white mothers, and rural Americans are more likely to die from issues such as heart disease and cancer. Equity is also often conflated with “equality,” which leads to misunderstanding of how to actually best support communities. Equality ignores the fact that we aren’t all starting life with the same resources or circumstances, whereas equity is about helping people get what they specifically need based on their situation so they have the chance to achieve the same outcome as anyone else. For example, if every household in Pittsburgh got a $30 grocery gift card, that would be equal. But during the decades the Hill District went without a grocery store, that card wouldn’t have helped much. Equity means making sure everyone can actually access a store in the first place. DEI policies can overlap with health equity in many ways. For example, they may help expand access to quality education and stable, well-paying jobs, which in turn can provide health insurance, safer housing, and improved finances—all of which can reduce health disparities. But to make that happen, we first need data to identify disparities in communities and to develop solutions that effectively address them. What we lose when the research stops Community data is important to health equity because: You can’t fix what you don’t see: Data show which communities are most affected by health factors such as infection, heart disease, and cancer. If we don’t know what is happening and where, then we can’t develop interventions to help. Poor health costs everyone: Chronic disease is expensive—both to the individual person and to the overall economy. Understanding what groups of people are most at risk allows us to develop interventions that can save everyone money. Disparities exist for many communities: Health equity includes disparities that exist due to a whole host of factors, such as family background, race and ethnicity, rural vs. suburban residence, gender and sexual orientation, veteran status, disability, and lower income. This means many Americans can benefit from research into differences in health outcomes and how to improve them. Trust is easy to lose: Some participants in the PHRESH study were initially vocal about their concerns about participating. But that trust was earned because the researchers kept their promises and centered their work on the community. When projects are canceled mid-cycle, researchers have no choice but to leave behind communities they had promised to help. This hurts trust in the long run. It’s also a very inefficient use of resources, and it will take significant time and effort to redo the work when the government realizes this work is important again. How should we talk about health equity? This is hard because the words “equity” and “DEI” are currently very politically charged. So whether you’re a public health professional, teacher, or friend, how we talk about this topic matters. The right framing can help people who might otherwise be skeptical see why health equity research is important and deserves funding. Here are some suggestions to help your conversations: Choose your words strategically: Who are you trying to reach with your message? Are they likely to be resistant to terms like “diversity” and “equity”? If so, find alternative words to use to still get the message across. It is frustrating to be in that position, but the goal of improving health is too important not to try to make inroads. Sometimes simply reframing can help the message reach those who need to hear it. Focus on the problem: The terms “health equity” and “DEI” are abstract. Make it more specific. For example, discuss differences in maternal death or ways to improve health outcomes in rural communities. These still have equity at their core but will likely be better understood by those you’re talking with. Focus on systems: Disparities exist, but if they are communicated poorly, people can mistakenly think the issue is the individual’s fault. Disparities are largely driven by failures of the system—such as lack of access to health care and a long legacy of racism. When discussing the disparities, frame them around these systemic issues to ensure blame isn’t placed on the individuals impacted. Tell stories: Personalize these policies by using stories from those impacted that connect to the data you’re trying to convey. This helps make the policies and outcomes more concrete and meaningful. Bottom line Some communities end up sicker than others. That’s just the facts. We can argue about the best way to do that research, but canceling it simply because it may be linked to DEI doesn’t make anyone healthier. It just leaves communities like the Hill district behind. And in the end, it causes us all to move backward in our efforts to improve health in this country. Love, EM Big thanks to MacKenzie Isaac & Legairre Radden, who reviewed this piece and generously shared their expertise and lived experience to help improve it. Dr. Liz Marnik, PhD, is Executive Director of The Evidence Collective and a science communicator and immunologist working at the intersection of public trust, science, and public health. To discuss communication training on topics like health equity and storytelling, email Liz at liz@yle.health or learn more on our website. Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) comprises a team of experts, ranging from physicians to immunologists to epidemiologists to nutritionists, working together with one goal: to “translate” ever-evolving public health science so that people are well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. The YLE suite of newsletters reaches over 475,000 people across more than 132 countries. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below: Your Local Epidemiologist is a reader-supported publication. 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Business Buzz: Monarch Physical Therapy
Business: Monarch Physical Therapy Address: 61 Church Hill Road Owner: Dr Chelsea and Matt Barnes What is your business background? “I got my doctorate in physical therapy in 2018. My...
Payer-provider disputes increase amid federal cuts, inflation
After months of contract negotiations this year, Sentara Health and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Virginia weren’t close to an agreement, foreshadowing
Maple Leafs Trade Gets Strong Reaction From Prominent Personality
On Monday, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets got together on a multi-player blockbuster move, with the principal pieces moving being Kirill Marchenko and Matthew Knies.Marchenko is on his way to Toronto and now has a six-year contract extension beyond this campaign, which was the final year of his deal. Meanwhile, Knies, who […] The post Maple Leafs Trade Gets Strong Reaction From Prominent Personality appeared first on HEAVY.
Andrew Garfield got ‘so scared’ playing basketball with Woody Harrelson: ‘He’s fiercely competitive’
The erstwhile Spider-Man actor “fully froze and folded” going up against the “White Men Can’t Jump” star.
Raven-Symoné says she wears a diaper around the house while menstruating, with a ‘baby T-shirt and a binky’
The Disney Channel alum got candid about liking “outside the box” period products.
The Streamers Tried To Conquer Labor Day…and Whiffed
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) What? Another Streaming Ratings Report already? You betcha. Nielsen has moved up the release of their Streaming Ratings data by two weeks, which means I’ve got two extra issues to get out. But I love this change because it will make this report more timely and easier to publish regularly. This week—with the viewership data for the week of 31-Aug—we’ve got some huge, huge topics to discuss. On the film side, two theatrical films (The Mandalorian and Grogu on Disney+ and Scary Movie on Paramount+) contend with two non-Netflix straight-to-streaming films (Mayday on Apple TV and The Runner on Prime Video). The streamers went all in to win Labor Day weekend in America. And we have a bunch of TV shows to analyze, both new shows (Netflix’s The Gentleman, Hulu’s Chad Powers, and an Alix Earle reality show) and weekly shows like Reacher, Ted Lasso, House of the Dragon and Lioness. All that, plus nepotism in Hollywood, some eye-popping fantasy football stats, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of August 31st to September 6th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Film - A Slew of Labor Day Disappointments? A lot of streamers released big new films this week, why? My theory is that the streamers know that four-day weekends can propel streaming films to glory. But if you’ve been reading more over the last two years, you know that big holiday weekends aren’t driving big viewership numbers the way they did post-Covid. And interestingly enough, Netflix didn’t put out a big new film this week. But four other streamers did, trying to take advantage of the holiday with some (not cheap) swings, including… The Mandalorian and Grogu on Disney+ (a Star Wars film that cost $165 million and made $177 million at the US domestic box office) Mayday on Apple TV (rumored $100 million budget, no theatrical release) The Runner on Prime Video (at least a $40 million budget, but likely $50 to $80 million, no theatrical release). Scary Movie on Paramount+ ($30 million budget, made $108 million domestically). (Paramount+ also released a made-for-streaming film based on the Thundermans IP, and I’ll discuss that later.) So…how’d they do? The Mandalorian and Grogu Leads The Way (But That Isn’t Enough) Let’s start with The Mandalorian and Grogu (which I’ll abbreviate to Mando for most of this article). We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… How Mando, Mayday, The Runner and Scary Movie performed on streaming... How the powerhouse weekly released shows (Reacher, Ted Lasso and Lioness) have accumulate a LOT of viewership… How House of the Dragon finished its run… The latest Netflix show to have a sophomore slump… Whether top creators can drive viewers to their shows… Nepotism in Hollywood and the music business... All the flops, bombs and misses for the week… And more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! Since Nielsen has accelerated their streaming data release schedule, I’ve got a lot of Streaming Ratings Reports coming your way! Next issue, I’ll be looking at the second season of Peacock’s The Paper, the latest season of Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and a very, very expensive Daily Wire fantasy series that’s now on Prime Video. Plus Crew Girl and Dang! on Netflix, a new Tyler Perry film, and one of the biggest bombs of the summer, Supergirl. In the next two issues, I’ll take a look at the return of the NFL to streaming, Toy Story 5 on Disney+, Backrooms on HBO Max, and The Breadwinner on Netflix. On the TV side, we’ve got Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, Dancing with the Stars on Disney+, Apple TV’s Slow Horses, a Reacher spinoff on Prime Video, and Paramount+’s MobLand, a Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey comedy on Apple TV, a sequel to a Cosby Show spinoff on Netflix, The Great British Baking Show, and the Unabomber film. And while doing all that, I want to take a look at adult animated shows, Ride or Die’s cancellation, and Netflix’s summer films. So much great stuff! Long term, two bits of comic book news. The X-Men cast has been announced, and go ahead and color me bull-ish, if not very, very bull-ish on this bit of comic book IP. In weirder news, HBO Max ordered a “true crime” show by Jimmy Olsen about Gorilla Grodd being falsely convicted of murder. I mean, what? I don’t know, let’s see what happens.
Oklahoma rural health gets $223M from One Big Beautiful Bill as SWOSU brings care closer to home
Oklahoma rural health just got a $223 million boost, and SWOSU is using part of it to bring care closer to home for those in western Oklahoma.
GOP senator airballs perjury claim against Jack Smith over apparent Hawks/Hawkeyes mixup
The Missouri senator’s shot at a gotcha moment against the former special counsel wound up being a very public miss.
Scientists Dated the Catastrophic Pompeii Eruption Using Only Rocks. Here's How Close They Got
According to Pliny the Younger, Mount Vesuvius erupted on August 24th, 79 CE. That date is now helping geochronologists modify a common mineral dating technique.
Confessions of a political handicapper
ANALYSIS — What if we got it all wrong? That’s the question that usually goes through my mind at this point in every election cycle. Because 25 years of experience in analyzing elections has made me more humble, rather than more cocky. Political handicapping has a way of knocking people down a couple of notches. […]
Forgotten PvPvE Mecha Game Ending Service After Just Two Years, But An Offline Mode Could Save It
Synduality: Echo of Ada will replace its PvPvE online mode with a new offline PvE mode some players think will fix many of the game's issues
Jeld-Wen secures $135 million in capital, extends debt maturities
Jeld-Wen Holdings has negotiated with creditors a $135 million capital infusion and an extension of 2027 and 2028 debt maturities, giving the Charlotte-based window and door maker a liquidity cushion to sharpen operations in the persistent housing slump. Jeld-Wen said earlier today it expects to extend the maturity of 2027 senior notes and 2028 term […]
Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and Pixelmator Pro just got new features
Today alongside a big update to Final Cut Camera, Apple announced that it’s rolling out updated versions of Pages, Keynote,...
East Islip Students Take Science Class Into The Wild At Sunken Meadow
AP Environmental Science students got a hands-on look at the plants, animals and ecological role of Sunken Meadow's salt marsh.
Michigan got $173M to transform rural health. Where is it going?
Some rural healthcare leaders say the first round of funds allocated from the Rural Health Transformation Program don’t go far enough to stabilize their industry amid federal cuts.
Firefox just got a redesign with round tabs, new themes, and Compact Mode
Will you be using Firefox after the redesign?
Cottagers on tour: Castagne, Charles in action
As the international break continues to rumble on, Fulham's stars continue to be involved and there were three players involved for Fulham on Monday night - find out who and how they got on below!
Detroit Pistons: Langdon Draws Zion Williamson Comparison With Jalen Duren
Despite an offseason filled with negotiation, Jalen Duren still hasn’t signed a contract with the Detroit Pistons
How a Chicago educator uses food to teach science thanks to Pilot Light, a local chef-led nonprofit
The nonprofit Pilot Light, which started in a single Chicago classroom with notable local chefs, now partners with administrators, schools and teachers in 26 states.
How elite universities got tangled up in politics and petroleum
Half a century of corporate influence set the stage for Trump's attacks, a new study argues.
How elite universities got tangled up in politics and petroleum
Half a century of corporate influence set the stage for Trump's attacks on higher education, a new study argues.
Cubs BCB After Dark: Is Matthew Boyd the right call?
The late-night/early-morning spot for Cubs fans asks if Matthew Boyd should have gotten the Game 1 start.
Christy Carlson Romano recalls trying cocaine for the first time and liking ‘the attention I got’
The Disney Channel alum admits she had been “aggressively clubbing” in her early 20s hoping the paparazzi would notice.
Ethics Watchdogs To Investigate Whether Troubled Multnomah County Health Board Got Dubious Legal Advice
A Washington state attorney has been advising a Portland-area governance board on Oregon Public Meetings Law.
Photos: What we saw at Chicago Bulls media day
Photos from Chicago Bulls media day on Sept. 28, 2026, at the United Center. ©2026 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Chicago renter ordinance votes delayed as Johnson, opponents seek compromise
Neither Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposal nor a competing measure has enough support to become law as the two sides continue negotiations.
In the News: Kevin Sauter on the Role of Political Debates - Newsroom
Kevin Sauter spoke with KARE 11 about the role of political debates as Minnesota candidates negotiate debate schedules for the 2026 election.
Jalen Ramsey in Sling at Practice
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers got started early for their preparation for Thursday Night Football, practicing at UPMC Rooney Sports […]
Gemini fully replaces Google Assistant on Android
At the start of September, the Google Assistant deprecation on mobile got underway. It now looks to be widely rolling out.
Michigan got $173M to transform rural health. Where is it going?
Some rural healthcare leaders say the Rural Health Transformation Program doesn’t go far enough to stabilize their industry amid federal cuts. Meanwhile, Michigan lawmakers say there’s a ‘transparency issue.’
Teens and parents can learn how to build a business together at "Side Hustle School"
Got a teen with big ideas and a passion for business? Harrisburg University is offering families with high school students a new and unique way to try out entrepreneurship together. “Side Hustle School, a new, seven-week program, begins next month, giving student entrepreneurs and their support systems a chance to work together to develop small […]
Bobby Kotick’s lawyers sent me a bad email (and later apologized)
The message I had received was unsettling—for a moment. Then it was just really confusing. Back on January 20 of this year, at 5:15pm ET, I received an email with the subject line “Legal Correspondence re Bobby Kotick.” It was from the law firm Clare Locke, a firm I’d heard had been emailing reporters in recent years about their coverage of Kotick, the former, longtime CEO of Activision Blizzard. The letter was threatening. A lawyer from the firm introduced themselves as “defamation counsel to Bobby Kotick.” They issued a “demand” that I “correct” a Game File article I’d published a week prior. The article that had irked them had been a scoop of sorts. I’d written about a a 2022 lawsuit brought by a Swedish pension fund, AP7, over Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard. The suit wasn’t news, but I was first to review and report about Kotick’s extensive pushback to the fund’s claims. The pension fund’s core contention was that the sale had been rushed by Kotick to avoid the consequences of sexual misconduct scandals swirling around the company in 2021. (He’d not been accused of misconduct himself in those suits, to be clear.) As I wrote at the time, Kotick had denied the allegations of the rushed sale. Beyond that, Kotick used a December 2025 reply to the Swedish fund’s lawsuit to assign blame for those workplace scandals, the bad press and even for the AP7 lawsuit. I’d found Kotick’s arguments novel and newsworthy. Across nearly 3,000 words, I explained Kotick’s take: that a Swedish gaming company was behind the Swedish fund’s lawsuit (the Embracer group; they denied it); that the Microsoft-Activision deal was not rushed and was secured at what Kotick felt history had proven to be an optimal price for shareholders; that he believed a conspiracy of people at unions government agencies, PR firms and the media had spun up claims of widespread workplace misconduct at Activision Blizzard in 2021. The article gave context for all of this, letting readers assess the claims and weigh their credibility. As I’d later write to Kotick’s lawyers: I would be surprised if you could point to any news article about Bobby Kotick in the last five years that has spent more of its wordcount articulating his point of view. He is welcome to do an interview with Game File any time. Nonetheless, there they were in my inbox that Tuesday evening: Clare Locke, the law firm that secured a $787.5 million settlement from Fox News over false statements about voting machines. They were emailing me, threatening that failure to comply with their demand could support a claim of “actual malice,” a legal standard for libel. Unless… Unless, they said, I added a key paragraph to my article. This was a paragraph that I already knew Kotick’s lawyers had been emailing reporters about for at least a year, and it was a paragraph that was already in my article. The paragraph they wanted is from a 2023 settlement that California’s Civil Rights Department struck with Activision Blizzard. The settlement had closed a two-year-old lawsuit over alleged sexual discrimination at the game maker. The paragraph basically said that claims of systemic or widespread sexual harassment—or of execs like Kotick tolerating such behavior—had never been proven. I’d already seen proof that Kotick’s lawyers had pushed for the settlement’s language to be added to reports about 2021 sexual discrimination and misconduct lawsuits brought against Activision Blizzard by California and, separately, by the U.S. federal government (both suits were since settled). I knew that Kotick and his lawyers felt that the California settlement language should be mentioned in the same breath as references to an article he hated and denied, a November 2021 Wall Street Journal article claiming Kotick knew “for years” of sexual misconduct at Activision Blizzard. So, in the Game File article that Clare Locke emailed me about, in the interest of ensuring I was being fair and balanced regarding the person I was covering, I had already included the following excerpt from the California settlement [emphasis added in bold]: (Kotick has repeatedly pushed back against that November article in the Wall Street Journal, citing among other things, language from a court-approved consent decree as part of Activision’s 2023 $54 million settlement over the California suit. It states: “no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard [or] that Activision Blizzard senior executives ignored, condoned, or tolerated a culture of systemic harassment, retaliation, or discrimination.”) On the evening of January 20, I was incredulous. How do you write a four page legal threat about a week-old article and miss this? While scrambling to also make my kids dinner, I wrote a lengthy reply to Clare Locke’s lawyers, basically asking them to cool it with the threats and to start making sense. In part, I wrote: I hope you can understand why I am having trouble understanding what you’re asking for, when the statement you’re demanding to see in Game File’s article already appears in Game File’s article. Actual malice, as you know, refers to a reckless disregard for the truth. I’m not sure what your argument is when my article already states your client’s position. Here is where I should remind you, the reader, that I am an independent journalist. I publish on Substack, and have availed myself of the Substack Defender program that provides writers on the platform with legal support. But I’m no Wall Street Journal or New York Times, nor even IGN or GameSpot when it comes to such things as, well, having a legal department. There are more fun things for me to do as an independent journalist than writing back to a powerful law firm representing a very rich person. On the evening of January 20th, I was just trying to cook some pasta, broccoli and chicken nuggets for hungry twins. Nevertheless, I wrote back to them. Two hours later, I got a reply. Summarizing: A lawyer for Clare Locke said they’d “reviewed an incomplete version” of my article and they “apologize for the confusion.” (My guess: Someone didn’t read past the piece’s paywall, even though they’d had a full week to scrounge up the funds to do so. What I’d published above the paywall was balanced, as was what came after.)1 That was almost that, but something about the situation bothered me. The letter had been marked “confidential.” I hadn’t agreed to that, and I disliked the idea that powerful people on the beat that I cover would act like they could unilaterally control what I might tell my readers about. On the morning of the 21st, having already gotten the powerful law firm to back off, I oh-so-wisely re-approached them with just one more thing. I thanked them for clearing things up the night before but noted that I’d never agreed to keep their letter confidential. I’m all for agreeing with a source to keep things off the record, but that’s the thing. We have to agree. You can’t just declare it. I’m not bound by that. I wrote to Clare Locke’s lawyer and said, in part: I trust the matter is resolved. It was disappointing to have to spend less time with my kids last night in order to address your legal letter. Family time’s precious. I will add, for clarity’s sake, that, while your letter stipulated that it was confidential, I did not agree to those terms. In the future, should you wish to communicate with me confidentially, I am happy to agree to classifying our communication as “off the record” prior to the actual communication—as is standard with any professional journalist. The firm’s lawyer replied, not directly addressing the confidentiality issue but asserting that the matter was resolved. Why I didn’t write about this until now In May, I told this story on an episode of Simon Parkin’s podcast My Perfect Console, but I held off on sharing it directly with Game File readers. I held off to avoid stepping on the toes of another reporter, the journalist Mikhail Klimentov. He’d interviewed me in the spring of 2025 about an investigation he was working on regarding Bobby Kotick lawyers pressing the media to add the California settlement language to stories referencing the 2021 lawsuits. And about how some outlets had changed their stories and how some simply deleted them. Initially, I was a third-party source for Klimentov’s reporting, providing on-the-record context about the state of the games media. I’d heard about the letters but hadn’t put the time into pursuing the story. I thought it was interesting, and I was glad he was covering it. When the outlet that Klimentov was going to run his reporting in dropped the story, I began talking to him about potentially publishing his reporting on Game File. This was tentative. Then, in January, when I got my own Clare Locke letter, I told Klimentov that I didn’t think it would make sense for me to publish him, not with me now being part of the story. I had my own version of this situation to tell. But I wished him well and said I’d refrain from telling my tale until he could get his reporting out there. Last Friday, Klimentov finally ran his investigation, in a nearly 48-minute video report for People Make Games. It covers various Clare Locke letters, how media outlets reacted to them and what to make of all this. His video weighs the merits of Kotick’s request and looks at some of the articles that were changed (one of which had a glaring error). I highly recommend watching it: (Note, I did some editorial consulting for a People Make Games video last year but nothing to do with this report.) While many outlets haven’t left any public evidence that they updated their Kotick coverage at Kotick’s counsel’s request, at least one has. Back in October 2025, the mainstream outlet Reuters applied the most transparent article update I’ve seen. On the 3rd of the month, they published an article about the state of the Swedish pension fund’s lawsuit. Days later, they added this: In an October 7 letter sent after publication of this article, Kotick’s defamation counsel disputed claims of widespread harassment at Activision. “Not a single investigation, court finding, verdict, or ruling ever concluded that there was any merit” to the allegations of widespread harassment at Activision, Tom Clare and Nick Brechbill of Clare Locke wrote. I’ve never added a statement to my article on Game File, because none was needed. Not for fairness’ sake, nor to meet any demands of Kotick’s lawyers. I’ve nevertheless wanted to be transparent with Game File readers. If someone powerful is questioning my reporting, is threatening a lawsuit over it… if that threat is part of a pattern involving other games media outlets and if, in my case, the whole thing ran into a ridiculous ditch, I want you to know about it. I also share this as a real example of how I handle threats to Game File. I stand up for my own reporting, even when it’s not comfortable to do so. (In that same category of standing up for the work I do, I’ll point to an incident in late August. Asocial media post I published to X/Twitter regarding reporting I did about Take Two and GTA VI was hit by bogus copyright claim by a firm working for the publisher. I pushed back and got it reversed; even while a bigger games media outlet let themselves be censored. This is the other reason I’m sharing this story: To emphasize that dealing with threats from powerful people is one of the costs of covering the video game industry independently and as fearlessly as possible. This is where you come in. Your support, through free and paid subscriptions (sign up here!), can help me keep doing that. It can ensure that I’ve got the back-up I need. And it can help make fiascoes like this even less of a worry, so I can spend my evenings dealing with more important things, such as making sure I steam the kids’ broccoli just right. 1 That pension fund lawsuit I wrote about in January has all but gone away. In May, the fund and Activision Blizzard owner Microsoft agreed to settle. Lawyers for the fund brokered a $250 million settlement for former Activision Blizzard shareholders. In the settlement, the fund’s lawyers changed their rhetoric. Where once they’d questioned the meaning of the California settlement language, they adopted a version of it for themselves. Several weeks ago, while seeking to get a court to sign off on the terms of the settlement, they proposed their fee for their work in the case: $60 million.
Newsom signs 'ghost ticket' ban, but critics say StubHub got a pass
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Jalen Williams says he got "totally healthy" at around …
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SpaceX's Starship reaches orbit for the first time, then returns early and blows up in a fiery explosion
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See the brilliance: Dunn artist creates and sells glass artwork that shines brightly
Cindy Akers-Gilford creates stained glass, fused glass, mosaics, handmade glass jewelry, pendants, suncatchers and other original glass artwork in her studio in Dunn, N.C. Photos provided by Cimply Broken.Self-made Artist and Founder of Cimply Broken, Cindy Akers-Gilford is helping people “see the brilliance” in all things with her glass artwork. Akers-Gilford started her business right after she retired from 20+ years as a civilian contractor at Fort Bragg. The official opening date for Cimply Broken was Nov. 8, 2021.“It’s been quite the adventure ever since. Not only did I have to learn how to manage a small business, but I’ve never taken a class in stained glass or anything I currently do,” shared Akers-Gilford. Her work includes stained glass, fused glass, mosaics, handmade glass jewelry, pendants, suncatchers and other original glass artwork.“I chose glass art just by happenstance. I saw a video on YouTube with a gentleman using plates and resin to make beautiful windows. I used that idea and created a simple picture frame-sized piece for myself. It was beautiful. I put it up in my window and pretty much forgot about it for a few days. Well, one beautiful sunny morning I went up to my studio, and the sun was rising and the light was shining beautifully through that piece. It was absolutely stunning. I thought that it was the perfect reflection of how God’s light shines through each of us. It was broken glass, so it changed ever so slightly as the sun continued to rise in the sky. I thought it poignant – like each of us – we all shine bright and differently in God’s glorious light, and we are all simply broken as well. We are all made beautiful in his light,” explained Akers-Gilford.The name of the business was inspired by the artist’s name and her faith-driven mission. “Simply became ‘Cimply’ as a play on my name and ‘simply’… and ‘Broken’ because we are all Cimply Broken – but each of us is beautiful,” added Akers-Gilford.Akers-Gilford sells her glass art at the Dunn Farmers Market when the weather is bearable, but mostly from her website at www.cimplybroken.com. “I enjoy getting lost in the creative process. I work out of my home, and I often compare my studio to Walmart returns after Christmas time. It’s hectic, busy and there are always at least 10 things being created simultaneously- it is fun!” shared Akers-Gilford. Her goal for the business is to continue to watch customers as they spot a piece of work from a distance and walk up to it in awe. “That is my biggest joy! I don’t speak to them until they speak – that is their moment to ‘See The Brilliance,’ which is my moniker,” shared Akers-Gilford. She also shared she would love to someday become part of an artist collective in Dunn.
Colts Edge Texans in Dramatic 19-17 Victory
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Could Republicans flip New Hampshire Senate seat? Sununu's got a shot
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Photos: Colorado Rockies 9, Chicago White Sox 6
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The Trump administration said it would prioritize ending mother-to-child HIV transmission. Health workers say it cut services
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THE GUARDIANS ARE YOUR AL CENTRAL CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!
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What's the Most Overrated Business Advice?
Let us know the most overrated business advice you've gotten in the comments.Subscribe to The Hustle:🔗 https://clickhubspot.com/vu3lGet the 5-minute newsletter keeping 2M+ innovators in the loop🔗 https://clickhubspot.com/3klnAbout HubSpot: HubSpot is a customer platform that provides education, software, and support to help businesses grow better. The platform includes marketing, sales, service, commerce, operations, and website management products that start free and scale to meet our customers’ needs at any stage of growth. Today, thousands of customers around the world use HubSpot’s powerful and easy-to-use tools and apps to attract, engage, and delight customers.#TheHustle #HubSpot
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